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Mega Mania Raid
Background At the time of its release, Megamania was one of the very few bottom of the screen shooters for the Atari 2600 where objects that the player(s) had to shoot down had their attack patterns change with every new enemy that was introduced. And rather than the common sci-fi theme where players faced aliens and/or spaceships, a more whimsical route was taken this time around, as players faced the everyday items of Hamburgers, Bow Ties, Steam Irons, etc. instead. Mega Mania Raid is a hack of Megamania, with the player's(/s') mobile blaster being changed, which is now the jet from River Raid, several of the enemies the player faces were either taken from River Raid or they now have a water theme to them (as the fish, the third enemy the player faces, also flash), some sound effects were changed, the background was changed to blue, the energy bar was changed to Fuel, and the scrolling Activision/Megamania words at the bottom of the screen were changed to T. Paiva and 1999. Gameplay Players control a jet at the bottom of the screen while various enemies appear overhead. Their attack patterns vary, as enemies can horizontally scroll from the left to the right side of the screen, although with every other wave, others can travel horizontally for a few seconds, then dip down closer to the player’s(/s’) jet(s) and reverse direction. Also, if not all of these enemies are destroyed by the time they reach the bottom of the screen, they will reappear at the top. Once players face all enemies and make it past the final wave, the game will start back over at the first wave, but at a higher level of difficulty, as attack patterns will change, such as the enemies that moved downwards from the top of the screen will dive down this time around, the final enemies will no longer travel straight down vertically any more, but at about a 45 degree angle, etc. And if players can make it through this cycle a second time, dive-bombing enemies begin traveling even faster towards the bottom of the screen, along with their shots moving faster as well. Players also have a certain amount of time that will constantly drain during a wave (which is represented by the fuel bar at the bottom of the screen), which, if the bar becomes totally depleted, the player will lose that jet. Successfully completing a wave will recharge the fuel bar though. If a player’s(s’) jet comes in contact with any enemy or their missiles, they will also lose a jet and the game will end if there are no remaining jets in reserve. Game/fire variations Games 1-2 allows players to guide missiles after they have been fired, which game two is for two players alternating turns. Games 3-4 allows players to fire straight missiles (with game four being for two players), although players have to press the controller button every time they want to shoot, as holding down the button to fire does not work in these variations as they do for games 1-2. The players’ firing rate can also be slowed down by setting the Difficulty Switch(es) in the A position. Controls, startup *Select game–Game Select switch *Start game–Game Reset switch (in-game) *Move jet–Joystick (left/right only) *Steer missile–Joystick (games 1-2 only) *Fire–button *Change difficulty level–Difficulty Switch Scoring *Boat–20 points *Helicopter–30 points *Fish–40 points *Creature–50 points *Jet–60 points *Unknown–70 points *Creature–80 points *Unknown–90 points *All objects after first cycle–90 points each *Extra jet–Every 10,000 points *Bonus points at end of wave–Each leftover time unit is worth current enemy point value Trivia The original Atari 2600 cartridge came in a picture and blue label, the latter of which is a bit more rare. This version is a ROM file to be played on flashcarts or Atari emulators only. Links Atari Age page with discussion on the hack This article was featured from May - June, 2017. Category:Atari 2600 BOTSS Category: Hacked BOTSS Category:Freeware BOTSS Category:Games